Day Four - The Luberon Valley

The Luberon Valley . . . 

On Day Four, we again left from our hotel, Crillon De Brave at about 9 am. We were all so relieved to have seen Mike at breakfast that it gave us a bit more "skip in our step." Once again the plan was to ride about 30 miles before lunch with some fairly significant climbing (around 3,000 feet). Personally, I have always liked putting in some solid miles prior to lunch as it makes for a better appetite 😁

The riding on Day Four (Wednesday, May 10th) was absolutely gorgeous and the weather was fabulous as well. Here's what the route looked like on Strava:

Crillon le Brave to Joucas: 51 total miles

We stopped in a small, family-owned restaurant called 'Le Crillon' in the town of Joucas for lunch. The food and the service at this restaurant was top notch. Most of us enjoyed having some of the local white wines with lunch -- even though we are riding. This region is known for it's RED wines, not as much for their white wines. We learned that 93% of the wine produced here is red wine. But the white wines are something special. They tend to be a mix of Roussane, Marsanne, Viognier and Grenache. They are lighter and fruitier than Chardonnays. All of us were particularly impressed with the lasagne with spinach and goat cheese at Le Crillon. I wish I had a photo of the food . . . 

Le Crillon Restaurant - Lunch on Day Four

Le Crillon - The Dining Room

Beautiful Burrata Salad at Le Crillon

Palmer, Ned and Jeff getting ready to ride after lunch . . . 

After lunch, it was back on the bikes with lots more hills to climb before we arrived at our next hotel . . . the spectacular Le Coquillade, also in Joucas:


This hotel and spa resort is amazing. 



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